


tick tock

by quietmoon



Series: SASO 2016 [10]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: ???? i think, @prompter im sorry i wanted to write u smth cool wahhh TvT, Angst, Character Study, Gen, Introspection, i feel awkward posting smth so short as well sorry sorry OTL, pls don't read this i hate it lol :-), um.............
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2020-07-28 19:24:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20069281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quietmoon/pseuds/quietmoon
Summary: Like a clock, new parts slip in and fall out — for a moment melding together and working seamlessly, but time passes, and the clock turns, and the parts come and go and go and go.Aoba Johsai's second years, and a sight they commit to memory.





	tick tock

**Author's Note:**

> _reposted from my [orphaned work](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7263808) with AO3's permission_

They all have their own ways of showing it.

* * *

Yahaba Shigeru is the loudest. Eyes rimmed with red, lips in a tight scowl that are just barely on this side of trembling, fists clenched tight and bitter at his sides. Shigeru didn't get to play in this match. Shigeru didn't get to, at the end, show his support with his own two hands.

It's frustrating. It's so frustrating it makes the corners of his eyes burn.

Shigeru's muscles don't have the same satisfactory ache and sting as his friends'. But that means he can carry most of their equipment back to the bus before anyone else even thinks to start.

At the end, at least, Shigeru can carry some of the weight. He takes pride in that at least.

The strap on his shoulder is heavy.

* * *

Watari Shinji has played many a match with his upperclassmen. He's saved countless blocked spikes Iwaizumi gritted his teeth over, spent countless practicing sets with Oikawa after hours, returned countless rebounds from Matsukawa to Hanamaki and vice versa.

You could almost say playing with Aoba Johsai's third years is Shinji's default. To him, that's what volleyball means, naturally, and the first thought he can think after they've bowed to the stands and are packing up to leave is that he's afraid of forgetting it, that he didn't want to stop playing that type of volleyball.

His eyes are open as he looks back, committing the sight to memory.

* * *

Kyoutani Kentarou's eyes are not rimmed with red. His fists, while clenched, don't shake like the others. Looking at him, perhaps you couldn't even guess at the war waging in his mind.

But Kentarou's fighting battles, invisible battles. He's looking back with his peers but his mind is thinking forward — thinking to how he knocked Kindaichi over, thinking about whether they'll blame him, wondering if that feeling of the cogs fitting into place is how it always feels playing with Iwaizumi, with everyone.

Kentarou surprises himself when regret curls in his gut, cold and sharp. This isn't how it was meant to go. He... wanted to play more. He wanted to feel _that_ more. And it pisses him off that he managed to throw it away before he realised just how great it was to hold.

One game wasn't enough.

When Yahaba promises payback, Kentarou takes it to heart. Looking back at the court, he resolves to return retribution tenfold.

* * *

When next year rolls around, the captain's shoulders are squared, and their libero's eyes are wide, wide open. The ace glances back up at the stands where Iwaizumi and Matsukawa catch his eye and send him matching grins. Hanamaki is giving him a thumbs up. Oikawa is leaning over the barrier, calling down to Kindaichi and Kunimi with an exuberant wave.

Like a clock, new parts slip in and fall out — for a moment melding together and working seamlessly, but time passes, and the clock turns, and the parts come and go and go and go.

* * *

They all, each and every one of them, have their own way of showing it.

**Author's Note:**

> [prompt](https://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/13854.html?thread=5314590#cmt5314590)


End file.
